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Archive for June, 2013

Humdrum and boring, that is the sad life of our hero, ten-year-old Ernest Morlaisse, who lives in Paris with his very old, very quiet grandmother. It’s the same old breakfast, same old route to school, same old healthy snack, no phone, no TV, and no computer. But, believe it or not, Ernest is actually okay with all this, since he doesn’t really know any better. That is, until Victoria, the new girl in class, scoops him up into her boisterous, messy, wonderful life in a huge, loving family, and he discovers the fun of even simple everyday things like grocery shopping, running in the park, and holding a baby. He even gets the courage to search for his long-missing father. Secret Letters from 0 to 10 by Susie Morgenstern is a feel-good story, packed with humor and heart that says it’s okay to live life in a BIG way!

Can you imagine your family being so poor that at 14 you were contracted to a wealthy family to be a servant? Not only that, but you had to leave your home in Philadelphia and cross the country to San Francisco. Part of Minnie’s job was to be a companion to Lily, a girl who was close to her own age. A short time after they arrived in San Francisco, a powerful earthquake hit. Minnie was in the kitchen when it happened and was safe, but Lily and the rest of the family did not survive. The lawyer/guardian thought that Minnie was Lily, and she decided to continue this pretense so she would be taken care of. Minnie had also found a strongbox of money and bonds that she was able to bury until she could come back for it. Will Minnie be able to live a life of luxury or will she decide she can’t live a lie and tell the truth? The ending will surprise you.

Life in rural Afghanistan is pretty tough for thirteen-year-old Zulaikha, the main character in Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy. Born with a cleft lip and teeth that stick straight out, she is constantly teased by the boys in her neighborhood and endures stares every time she goes to the market place. Her older sister, Zeynab, is beautiful, and her strongest supporter. Her real mother is deceased and instead she now has to deal with a crabby, pregnant, stepmother who only cares about having a son. Things start to look up for her when, by chance, she meets an American soldier who says that he has a way that she can get corrective facial surgery at the Army base-and for free! Also, around the same time, she meets a kind literature professor who offers to teach her how to read and write, in hopes that she can maybe attend school one day. However, Zulaikha must juggle all of that with her sister’s upcoming wedding to a not-so-nice older gentleman, as well as problems with the helicopter flight that is supposed to take her to meet the American doctor. Will she have the facial surgery? Does she learn to read and write and eventually attend school? You will have to read the book to find out!